


Made of Starlight and Ashes

by Aceflyheight



Series: The Young Stand Tall [2]
Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Original Work, Unspecified Fandom
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Dark, Female Characters, Female Protagonist, Injury, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Magical Girls, Original Fiction, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Female Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-07-20
Packaged: 2018-07-24 12:53:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7509003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aceflyheight/pseuds/Aceflyheight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When things go wrong, people always tell you that life will get better. People are liars. What I’ve learned in my years as a magical girl is that life doesn’t actually get better. All that you can do is try to get better at dealing with life.<br/>My name is Julie Ellis. This is my story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 01

**Author's Note:**

> As a heads-up for everybody who has read One Girl's Wish already, this story will overall be darker than that one due to different characters and situations in this story.

~March 24, 1989~

Julie could already feel the bruise forming underneath her eye and a sharp pain in her side just below her ribs, but she didn’t care. She let her momentum carry her around the corner and right behind a dumpster as she heard the shouting in the distance fade. She waited a few moments though before she got back to her feet and eased herself slowly through a nearby broken window, but only after gripping the window with both of her hands. She’d already misjudged exactly how big the window was a few weeks back and had paid for that miscalculation with a deep gash across her shoulder that still hadn’t healed. She dropped inside the broken down building and glanced around only to see a flash of dark green before it quickly disappeared around the corner to what amounted to the kitchen. She smiled just a little before she collapsed to the old wood floor and began to fish around in her pockets.

“Hey, you guys can come out,” she whispered as she finally found what she was looking for, but didn’t take her hands out of her pockets yet.

After a few moments, there was the sound of shuffling and Julie saw Michael and Stephanie appear from the edge of the hallway near the kitchen.

“We…we heard screaming outside.”

“It was nothing. Some guy just saw me was all.”

“You’re lying, Julie,” Stephanie told her as she pointed her own finger just underneath her own eye.

“Okay, so the guy managed to get a whack on me while I was trying to get away. No big deal, Steph.”

“It is to us.”

“I know, but I really wish that you two would quit worrying about me,” she replied with a sigh before she took out the couple of oranges that she had managed to grab, “now, mind taking these off of me? They’re sort of weighing my jacket down.”

“Thank you, Julie,” Michael said before smiling as he took the oranges and headed towards the kitchen.

“So, are you planning on eating with us?”

“I’ll eat later. I just want to collapse upstairs for a bit first,” Julie replied as she got to her feet and tried to ignore the worried look on Stephanie’s face as she brushed past her and headed upstairs. As she got halfway up the stairs though, she had to pause and take a deep breath as the pain in her side began to intensify. After a few moments, she was able to resume walking though and managed the rest of the stairs without any additional difficulties. She reached the open door to her room and walked inside, closing the door behind her, before she shrugged her jacket off. She dropped it like the heavy weight it was before she pulled her shirt over her head and caught her reflection in the dirty mirror on top of her desk. She stared into her own sunken eyes for a moment and let out a pained chuckle before she inspected the spot beneath her eye and didn’t even wince as she saw the skin already beginning to change color. Instead, she swapped her focus to the pain in her side and began to lightly inspect the area with her fingers. It didn’t feel like the bastard had actually broken anything when he kicked her, but she really didn’t like how each touch of the area made her feel nauseated.

She sighed before she moved away from the mirror and tried to ease herself gently onto her bed. She hoped that a few hours of rest would dull the pain, but a part of her really doubted it and she knew that there was no way in hell that she was going to send Michael or Stephanie out there by themselves. She had already made that mistake once and she swore that she would never make that mistake again.

“ ** _Hello, Julie._** ”

Even with the pain in her side, she was off the bed and on her feet in an instant, her granddad’s knife snatched up from the floor and shakily resting in her hand as she looked around for the source of the voice while she tried to keep her body steady.

“ ** _Sorry to have scared you. That was not my intention._** ”

“I don’t care what your intentions are. Either get out of here now or stop hiding,” she replied, trying to sound as brave as possible.

“ ** _I am not hiding. Simply look down._** ”

Julie didn’t glance downward for a few moments just in case it was a trick, before she eventually relented and glanced at her feet. “What…what are you?” she mumbled as she saw nothing but a small white cat with black paws looking up at her.

“ ** _That question is not easily answered, but you may think of me as a guide. You may call me Cypher._** ”

“Well, whatever you are, _Cypher_ , I don’t need a guide,” she stated before the pain in her side flared up and she reflexively placed her free hand over her side.

“ ** _In that regard, you are correct. In consideration of your current situation, you need much more than a simple guide._** ”

“Fuck off,” she muttered as she tried to keep herself from flinching at the pain in her side.

“ ** _If I do, then those who you consider your family will die. It will be no one’s fault but your own, Julie._** ”

“You…that’s it,” she said before she made an attempt to swing her knife at him only to blink in surprise as he disappeared. She tried to turn around only to realize too late that her momentum was still carrying her and she fell to the floor on her uninjured side.

“ ** _You did not let me finish._** ”

She snapped her head up as she heard his voice and saw him watching her from her bed. She grit her teeth, but she didn’t attempt to attack him again. She had a bad feeling that it would be just as useless as her last attempt.

“ ** _If I ‘fuck off’ as you say, then they will die and you will follow soon after. To prevent that, you simply need to make a contract with me._** ”

“‘ _A contract_ ’? This is bullshit,” she said before she suddenly started laughing so hard that her side felt like it was on fire as the reality of the situation sunk in, “I’m finally going crazy…I’m seeing a damn cat talking to me about making a contract!”

“ ** _No, you are no—_** ”

“Shut up,” she said, “this isn’t real.” With that last word, she cautiously got to her feet and took a deep breath as she made her way towards the closed door. That deep breath though was a mistake that she quickly regretted as the pain in her side spiked again and actually caused her to yelp. She did what she could to remain standing until the pain dulled enough for her to open the door and take a step out into the hallway. She paused for a moment so that she could place her knife inside her pocket before she slowly began to descend down the steps. Even if _Cypher_ or whatever his name was was just a sign of her going crazy, she still needed to be sure. She needed to be sure that Michael and Stephanie were still okay and safe.

“Michael? Steph? Where are you guys at?” she asked as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

There was no response though.

Julie tried to convince herself that maybe they just didn’t hear her. There was just no way that she could accept that creature and what it said as being true. She slowly made her way around the corner at the bottom of the stairs and froze as she saw the inside of the kitchen. “No. No. No. No,” she muttered over and over as her eyes darted from the streaks of blood that painted the floor to the tiny handprints smeared on the wall and back to the streaks.

At that moment, a growl came from behind Julie and she turned around only to see a black blur before she felt her back slam into the wall. She yelped as her back screamed at her before her instincts kicked in and she grabbed the knife from her pocket. The next thing that she knew, she heard a shrill cry and saw a single red eye surrounded by black fur glaring at her–the eye next to it sliced open and currently gushing blood. Before she could react, pain blossomed in her shoulder and she screamed as it seemed to _burn_ downward. Her vision began to swim and she began to swing her knife wildly. Thankfully, she heard another cry of pain and felt her body collapse as she caught a glimpse of the creature backing away for the moment, but she knew that it was futile. There was no way that she could win this.

“ ** _If you had simply contracted with me then this could have been avoided._** ”

Julie froze as she heard that voice and noticed that she wasn’t in the kitchen anymore…or anywhere for that matter. All that she could see was pitch-black darkness.

“ ** _I warned you._** ”

Julie grit her teeth at that and slowly struggled to get back on her feet even through the pain that was overloading her entire body. “This is your fault, Cypher! You brought that thing here and did this, didn’t you?” she screamed into the darkness.

“ ** _I did not bring the creature here. I came here to prevent this outcome, but you would not contract with me and, as a result, this is the outcome that regrettably occurred._** ”

“Then why didn’t you kill that thing? Why couldn’t you have done that and saved us?”

“ ** _I could not. The strength to face down creatures such as that is contained only inside people who are capable of becoming magical girls such as yourself, Julie. To unleash that strength though, you must make a contract._** ”

Julie wanted to tell him to go to hell, but she knew that it wouldn’t change anything. Instead, she pressed her free hand against her injured shoulder and glared at Cypher. “If I make a contract with you, will I be able to kill that thing?”

“ ** _Yes._** ”

“Then, make me a magical girl.”

“ ** _Ask me for the power to avenge your family._** ”

“Give me the damn power to avenge Michael and Steph,” she replied before she felt her body just collapse to the ground as she began to scream and scream. Her whole body felt like it was on fire.

Just as suddenly as it had begun though, the pain _froze_. She could still feel it crawling through her body, but it didn’t _bother_ her any longer. At the same time, her body felt…different. Stronger. _Better_. The pain in her shoulder was gone. The pain in her side was gone.

“ ** _The creature will be waiting for you. Prepare yourself, Julie._** ”

In the blink of an eye, she saw the darkness recede and reveal the kitchen once again. True to Cypher’s words, she saw the creature waiting for her. Without knowing why, she extended her right hand and with a flick of her wrist, her right hand was suddenly engulfed in a flash of light. She heard a growl coming from in front of her, but for some reason she wasn’t scared. What she was though, was mad–furious–and wanted blood.

She heard the wooden boards creak and didn’t even need to look as she stepped to the left and easily dodged the creature’s charge. At the same time, she felt a weight in her right hand and raised it up in front of her, not even blinking in surprise as she saw that she was now holding a bow…but no arrows.

Somewhere deep in her mind though, an image came to her mind and she _knew_ what to do. Before she could though, she heard claws cutting through the air and ducked underneath the creature’s attack. She moved her left hand down to the bow’s string and didn’t even have to look down to know that there was an arrow at the ready.

She jerked the bow upwards and let the arrow fly up and through the creature’s chin. It tore through the flesh and she couldn’t help but feel a small pang of satisfaction at the cry of pain that spilled from the creature’s throat.

Before the creature could even recover from the injury, Julie took a few steps back and fired a second arrow that cut across the creature’s uninjured eye. With the creature blinded, Julie summoned a new arrow to finish it only to pause as she saw the creature try to _run away_. If she was being entirely honest with herself, she _almost_ pitied it as it thrashed around before it finally broke through the wall and ran off into the night. That didn’t mean that she would let it escape. After all, as far as she was concerned, it still had to pay for what it had done.

Without hesitation, she gave chase.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said in the note at the beginning, yes, this story is definitely darker than One Girl's Wish, but I also want to add that the first two chapters will probably be the darkest--at least on a violence level for sure--while the rest of the story will be lighter than this section.


	2. Chapter 02

~March 24, 1989~

Julie smiled just a little as she readied an arrow and took aim at the creature as it darted through an alleyway. She waited until it blindly crashed into a dumpster in its path before she let the arrow fly. Even from so far away, she could just still _hear_ the arrow as it penetrated the creature’s flesh and lodged itself in its hind leg. She watched as it screamed in pain from the arrow before thrashing around in confusion as it tried to continue fleeing. She was almost impressed with how long the creature had survived so far considering the trail of blood that it left in its wake. Just for a moment, she thought about summoning another arrow and finishing the creature, but then she pushed the thought away. She wasn’t ready to finish it quite yet.

She took a single step off the edge of the apartment roof that she was standing on and landed on a different roof before she began to slowly make her way across the rooftops as she got an idea. She locked her eyes on the creature and let an arrow fly. The arrow embedded itself in the concrete just to the right of the creature and she watched as it dodged to the left and began to run down Main Street.

She quickly followed it, using the rooftops to keep up, and fired off arrow after arrow–each and every single one landing just inches either to the creature’s left or right. She kept it up until she saw the creature eventually collapse in the middle of the street. With a satisfied smile on her face, she dropped from the roof down to the ground and slowly made her way to the creature. She could hear its slow, pained wheezing but she still felt no sympathy for the creature. She watched it for a moment longer before she readied an arrow directly at its head. Without a word, she let it fly and watched as it penetrated the creature’s skull. She let out a deep breath as she watched the creature’s dead corpse flop to the ground and, for some reason, wasn’t even surprised when she saw the corpse begin to fade away into a dark mist.

“ ** _…surprising._** ”

As she heard _that_ voice come from behind her, it took everything that she had to keep from readying an arrow just for _him_. “What do _you_ want?” she mumbled as she decided to ignore the ‘surprising’ comment.

“ ** _To bring you to where you’re needed and fulfill your contract as a magical girl._** ”

“And if I don’t want to go?” she asked, “what happens to your little _contract_ then?”

“ ** _The contract will be fulfilled regardless. If you remain here though, I cannot promise that you will live long._** ”

“…what do you mean?”

“ ** _Creatures such as the shade that you just fought are attracted to the essence found in human beings. Magical girls contain large reservoirs of essence and as a result are very attractive targets. Thus, regardless of where you are, you will be in conflict with them. As for how this relates to your contract, a magical girl contract at its most basic is a promise to be a guardian of the human race and to protect the people around you from creatures that wish to cause harm._** ”

Julie grit her teeth at that as she realized that _if_ he was telling the truth then she was screwed no matter what her decision was. “…if I’m going to be attacked whether I stay or go with you, then why did you make that remark about not being able to promise that I would live long if I stay here? Wouldn’t it apply just as much if I do go with you?”

“ ** _No, because you will have allies if you come with me. You will have fellow guardians who will support you instead of you fighting alone._** ”

She sighed. Regardless of whether he was telling the truth, it wasn’t as if she had anything else to lose besides her own life after everything that had happened. “Fine, I’ll go with you, but I’m going back to get a few things first,” she told him as she headed back to what had been her home less than an hour before.

###

As she arrived home, she carefully stepped through the hole in the wall that the creature had made in its attempt to flee and caught a glimpse of the blood stains in the kitchen. She forced herself to look away as she quickly made her way through the kitchen and then up the stairs. She needed to keep her focus on what she came back for. She could deal with Michael and Stephanie’s deaths later once she finally got to wherever Cypher was planning on bringing her to.

She made it to the top of the stairs and walked inside her room before pausing as she caught her reflection in the mirror…or at least what she _thought_ was her reflection. Before she could try to inspect the reflection though, she managed to pull herself away as she reminded herself that she was supposed to be grabbing what she had come back for. After all, if the girl in the mirror really was her then it wasn’t anything that she could do about it other than to confront Cypher about it later.

She sighed a little as she bent down and retrieved a duffle bag from underneath her bed before she began to fill it with the few things that she could from the room. Once she was done, she made her way back down the stairs and through the kitchen only to pause as she saw her granddad’s knife still lying on the floor from where she must have dropped it before Cypher saved her. She took a deep breath as she bent down to grab it and stuffed it into her bag before she left through the hole in the kitchen once again.

 “Cypher, where are you?” she called out as she looked around, but didn’t see him anywhere.

“ ** _Here._** ”

She glanced over her shoulder and saw him jump down from the roof of what had been her home before he slowly made his way towards her. “How far is the place we’re going to?”

“ ** _One hundred and thirty miles to the south._** ”

Julie actually blinked in surprise at hearing the exact number of miles that they would have to go before she turned and started walking. If they were going to travel that kind of distance, then they were going to need to grab a vehicle. In particular, it would probably be best if they had a motorcycle since it would be a lot easier to sneak out of the city with it than a car.


End file.
